Adjustable loose leaf binder



J. J. GAERTIG ADJUSTABLE LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed July 15, 1932 -5U/enfer n J G6267 May 30, 1933.

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i l l1 Ll l Patented May 30, 1933 q UNITED 'STATES yPATEN11*`A .OrFICEfL JOHN J. G-AEBTIG, orcIIIcAGo, ILLINoIs i ADJUSTABLE LoosE LEAF BINDER Application led July 175,

1 The invention relates to loose leaf. binders adapted for permanently filing loose papers and more `particularly it relates to adJustyable binders providing improved means for 5 clamping the .filev contents closely together .to form permanent volumes adapted to "be numbered or ystenciled in consecutive order and placed on end on shelves. in the same manner. as booksf Vor other permanently bound publications.

panies Where the annual accumulation fills,

r several thousand binders of a maximum thickness convenient for handling and stor ing. The uniform documents used by railroad companies and their preservation Afor a definite number of years in compliance 1 .30 with `the regulations and orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission necessitates the accumulation of many thousands of binders of a thickness of three or four inches or greater. The preservation of such records for `the. required `time and the labelling or indexing of the same forconvenient access at any time during the period they are required to be preserved entailsa heavy expense. It is a common practice in such cases to'stencil or otherwise mark thebacks of the tiles in consecutive order and to stand the sameon end on shelves side by slde vin the same manner that books are positioned on .library shelves. The ,vault space required to store the voluminous files vfor therequired period makes it desirable that the file contents be removed and destroyed or disposed of as lwaste paperas soon as the required period of preservation has expired. In or- Y der that the filled binders might be arranged `contents and is capable of repeated.l use 19a-z. serial No. 622,592;

compactly side lby, side on shelves it has been the practice heretofore to useunitary rigid backs, `preferably of sheet metal covered withfabric, `.to which backs cardboard or V: paper covers are` attached. Backs heretO- "1).: fore constructed as Vdescribedare,expensive and in .removing the file contents at the expiration of the required period of preservation substantially all .of such backsareA lso mutilated `and distorted asto be lincapablel-iE0 of further use and asa result an entirely new supply must be provdedforeach years iiles. The outlay fornewfbacks and binders in the v,case ofvmanyl railroad companies amounts vto several thousand dollars an-r nually.- o I An `object of the invention is thefprovision of an improvedbinder which `is easily disassembled. for the removal of lobsolete 'F whereby substantial economies and savings areeffected. L...

v Another object 4.of the invention is .theprovision` of an improved binder `of the kind l described .having an adjustable back` .and-.75 novel means for clamping the contents of the binder together tol provide'permanent.vol-k umes of various degrees of thickness-between predetermined limits.

l A-further object of the invention they??o provisionof an improvedbinder of the.y kind described which is simply constructed, inexpensive to manufacture, *easily` assembled and disassembled and satisfactory .foryits intendedpurpose. A 1 i f3 Manyother objects and 'advantages of the construction herein shownwand described will be obvious to those skilled in the artlfrom the disclosure herein given.`

To this end myinvention.consistsuinvthe 4novel construction, arrangement andiv combinationV of.4 parts herein shownfand` described, and-more 'particularly pointed lout inthe claims. i f f v;v

Inl the. drawing, whereinl like reference characters indicate 'like or. l'corresponding Parts, Fig. 1 is anedge view; partiallyin section. of a binder embodying the principles of the invention; o 1 1 j 1 Fig. 1* partially in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view partially in section of a portion of the binder shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an angle iron and headed sleeves mounted thereon; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another angle iron and headed sleevesY adapted for assembly in adjustable cooperating relation with the angle iron and sleeves shown in Fig. 3, the angle irons in both Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 being shown without fabric sheet covers. Y

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the assembled binder, designated generally, by the numeral 10, is shown in The binder comprises covers 11 and 12 respectively fastened to L shaped back members 13 and 14 by fabric sheets 15. The fabric sheets 15 are fastened to the L shaped back members 13 and 14 and to the covers 11 and 12 by adv hesive material not shown.

The back members 13 and 14 are preferably constructed'of Vfrigid material such-as sheet metal and the limits. binder is equal to or slightly greater than `leg of the member 13 is slidably mounted.

vThe anges 16 are closely spaced to the noncooperating leg of the member 14 to add rigidity thereto. VThe cooperating legs of the members 13 and 14 are preferably of substantially the' same depth and thereby permit maximum adjustment of the thickness of the binder between Vpredetermined The minimum thickness of the the depths of the cooperating legs of the members 13 and 14 and the maximum thicku ness is slightlyV less than the Acombined depths of the members 13 and 14.

The outstanding legs of the members 13 and 14 are connected by adjustable fastening means adapted to clamp said legs in contact with the contents of the binder when filled between minimum 'and maximum 'limits determined by the depth of the cooperating legs of the members. The fastening means comprise one or more sleeve members 18 projecting inwardly through the outstanding leg of the member 13 and a corresponding number of sleeves 2Oy mounted on and projecting inwardly from theout- 18. The sleeve v18Y is preferably slightly longer than the depth of the cooperatingy 20 are provided with heads 21 covered by the fabric 15 which holds the sleeves permanently in position. The sleeves 18 are provided with heads 19 overlying the outer fabric 15 and are wedged in position in apertures provided for that purpose in the member 13.- The sleeves 20 are internally threaded and are'engaged by screw bolts 22 mounted in the sleeves 18. The bolts 22 are provided with screw heads 23 which enable the bolts to be engaged with and disengaged from the sleeves 20 by the use of a screw driver'. The assembled binder is shown in Fig. 1 with the fastening device arranged intermediate the positions of minimum and maximum capacity. The minimum capacity of the binder with the contents clamped between the outstanding legs of the back corresponds to the position wherein the-lower edge of the cooperating' leg of the member 13 is positioned in the bottom of thechannels 17. The maximum capacity is obtained when the lower edge' of said leg is positioned'in the top of the channels 17. A

i The binder contents are perforated beforel uments to be filed are placed in the desired order on the section comprising. the outer cover 12 and back member 14 and also on the section comprising the cover 11 and the back member 13 both sections in general being separately filled to capacity.

The filled sections are then assembled by inverting the section comprising the cover 11 and the member 13 and positioning the sleeves 18 over the corresponding sleeves 20. The bolts 22 are then inserted in the sleeves 18 and require only a few turns of the bolt to clamp the back sections in' contactwvith the contents when the .binder is filled to maximum'capacity. The bolts 22 are threaded for their full'length and enable the contents to be clamped together when the binder is filled to any extent between maximum and minimum. yThe described con struction provides a maximum capacity substantially ninety-five percent greaterfthanv the minimum capacity of the binder.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a binder of the kind described which is sim-V ple in construction7 easily assembled and standing leg of the; member 14 in aligned inner telescoping relation with theV sleeves i disassembled, adjustable between predetermined minimum and maximum limits and wherein the maximum capacity 'is` approximately double that of the minimum capacity. The construction provides a loose leaf binder adapted for permanent storage of documents, from which the contents may be easilyl 10 arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is:

l. In a binder of the kind described, a pair 15 of covers and a back comprising two L- shaped members, one leg of each of said members being arranged in cooperating relation with thev corresponding leg of the other, inturned flanges on the ends of one of said cooperating legs providing channels in which the corresponding ends of the other of said cooperating legs are slidably mounted, inturned flanges on one of the non-cooperating legs and closely spaced therefrom to provide rigidity to said non-cooperating leg, means connecting the covers with the projecting non-cooperating legs of said members, adjustable fastening means connecting said non-cooperating legs, said fastening means comprising an inwardly projecting sleeve mounted on one of said non-cooperating legs, an inwardly projecting sleeve mounted on the other of said non-cooperating legs in aligned telescoping relation with said first mentioned sleeve and a screw bolt extending through one of said aligned sleeves into threaded engagement with the other sleeve, each sleeve having substantially the same length as the depth of the cooperating leg of the member on which it is mounted, the length of said screw bolt being slightlyV greater than the depth of the cooperating leg of one of said members and slightly shorter than the cooperating leg of the other of said members.

2. In a binder of the kind described, a pair of covers and a back comprising two rigid L-shaped members of a length approximately equal to the width of said covers, one leg of each of said members being arranged in cooperating relation with the corresponding leg of the other, inturned flanges on the ends of one of said cooperating legs providing channels in which the corresponding ends of the other of said cooperating legs are slid- Y ably mounted, inturned lflanges on one of the non-cooperating legs and closely spaced therefrom to provide rigidity to said noncooperating leg, fabric strips hingedly connecting the covers with the projecting noncooperating legs of said members and pro-` viding a covering for said L-shaped mem-` bers, adjustable fastening means connecting said non-cooperating legs, said fastening means comprising a plurality of inwardly projecting sleeves mounted on one of said non-cooperating legs, a plurality of inwardly projecting sleeves so mounted on the other of said non-cooperating legs as to telescope within said first mentioned sleeves, the

,outerends of said last mentioned sleeves being covered by one of said fabric strips, and

a pluralityfof screw bolts each extending through one of said aligned sleeves into threaded engagement with the other, each set of sleeves havingr substantially the same length as the depth of the cooperating leg of` the member on which they are mounted, the length of said screw 'bolts being slightly greater than the depth ofthe cooperating leg of one of said members and slightly shorter than the cooperating leg of the other of said members.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe .my name this 12th day of July A. D., 1932.

JOHN J GAERTIGr.v 

